From the East Coast to the Midwest, from Foodie to Mommy on the Go.... Our adventures in attempting to eat low-processed and local food, when the odds are against you.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Chicken-Prosciutto Pasta

Or.... how to clean out your fridge before Easter! This was suppose to be the pasta my husband makes which has a very light and clean flavor profile, but he was stuck at work... and he also doesn't write down recipes (he thinks it makes him indespensible... which he is but don't tell him).... he is also often late and I didn't want to feed the family at 8pm so I was left to my own devices. It didn't taste like his and I used a different type of pasta. It had more of a hearty, salty flavor profile but it was delicious anyway.... here we go.

Look in the fridge and pantry. What needs to go? Take it out. Chop it up. If you are me you have. Prosciutto, chicken breast, capers, garlic, half a bottle of white white, and open carton of chicken stock, basil starting to go brown on some of the larger leaves, some grape tomatoes, and some campanelle pasta (how did that get in there? Most certainly from a Rachael Ray recipe before I gave up hope on her.)

Boil your pasta just under al dente as it will continue to cook when you add it to your pan. Chop up any meat you plan to use. I floured and peppered the chicken haphazardously... meaning I sprinkled soem flour and pepper over these piles and called it close enough. I then heated olive oil in a pan. I browned the pancetta and removed it to a paper towel. I then added the chicken and browned that, removed that to a dish and set aside. I added the garlic and a shallot and about a teaspoon of capers to the pan and sauted until soft. I then deglazed with 1/2 cup of white wine, and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. I added the tomatoes and stewed them in the liquid. Returned the meat to the liquid and stirred it around until the liquid started to thicken and become sauce-like. I then added in the pasta, gave it a good grating of parmesan cheese over the top. Stirred, added salt and pepper,and fresh chopped basil and let cook for about another minute to get the cheese hot. (Note to self... baby is not ready for dairy product, thank you no sleep-weekend). Serve it up along with the toasted sour dough bread that was just about stale but coverable under the guise of crostini.

About Me

I have been blogging since 2009 under the Blog Coulis and Compote but after after a hundred or so posts I realize that I am not a fancy smancy blogger. I do not have any photography experience, I do not have a book deal or time to give my food it's own photo shoot.... have you seen the rider for macaroon? Oy.
What I do have is a family I need to feed in a timely manner and a love for food which means doing things like throwing a bunch of random ingredients in a crock pot and calling it close enough really doesn't work for me. I love good food and I believe you can have it even if you have little time to cook every night. I do a lot of quick things that I think while simple are tasty and I like to share them with people hoping it means one less Big Mac that gets sold in the world. Hope you enjoy.